“Hod” the voice speaking his name sounded miles away and Hod didn't want to answer; he was cozy and safe in this dark oblivion.

“Hod!” the voice sounded urgent and somehow soothing. He wanted to know who spoke so lovely and strong like....

A slap to the face brought him sputtering awake.

“Whoa! What?” He cried.

Memo stood in front of him, her hands on her hips.

“Come on, we have to get out of here!”

He looked around, “Wait, where did Smork go? What happened?”

Memo sighed, “You yacked everywhere and then passed out. You were muttering in your delusion.”

Hod rubbed his eyes, it felt so real.

He glanced over to where the trap lay and cringed seeing a tissue draped over the body and the other tissue tied up and filled with poison pellets.

“How long was I out?” Hod asked.

Memo shrugged, “A couple of minutes. Let's go, we gotta get this poison somewhere safe.”

Hod stood and helped tie the tissue to Memos back, tucking it into the rubber bands she had crisscross over her body.

“What are we going to do?” Hod asked and Memo didn't have to look to know where his gaze was aimed.

“Razr had it coming. Don't worry about it. I hate it had to end that was but he would have killed you if given the chance and I couldn't just stand there while he spoke to you like that.”

Memo spun to Hod suddenly and grabbed his shoulders,

“Listen to me, don't you ever grovel like that again to the likes of someone like Razr. You're better than that and now you have me to kick anyone's ass who even thinks about taking advantage of you, understand?” She let go and stepped back, “We're a team and I'm going to do my best to help you learn your worth.”

Hod teared up and grunted a “thanks” before she turned away and they continued their journey.

“Besides,” Memo called to the little rat trailing behind her, “The only person allowed to give you shit is me.”

Hod blushed in the dark, a smile tugging at his mouth. He couldn't explain it but having a friend felt nice.

Knowing Memo had his back made him feel all fuzzy inside.

That's what friendship felt like, right? He asked himself.

The way his heart fluttered when he saw her and the way his fur tingled when she touched him.

Friends.

Right?

“Hurry up slow-poke! Did you eat some of that poison or what?” Memo called.

Hod grinned and caught up.

“I'm here.”

The two made their way across the store, keeping to the shadows as much as possible in case the patrol was out yet.

“Look there!” Memo called.

Hod saw that Clark had left a small box on the ground by the register that said, “Trash” and a winking smiley face drawn next to it. There was also a bag of Cheetos next to the box labeled, “Not trash, eat this.”

Hod helped Memo dump the poison into the box and they descended upon the Cheetos like wolves.

“I'm so hungry!” Hod cried, not realizing how much he needed this.

Memo nodded, her whiskers peppered with orange dust, “Yeah this is divine!”

Hod let the stress melt away as he chewed each crisp, focusing on the cheesy taste instead of all the worry that had built up.

He got a chill then, thinking of that odd vision before he passed out. He knew he'd have to face Lord Smork soon enough but for now he let the sound of his crunching sooth him.

“Gosh I'm tired.” Memo yawned.

Hod chuckled and she frowned, “What?”

Hod pointed at her nose, “You got a little something there.”

She crossed her eyes trying to see her own nose and Hod giggled at the sight.

She scoffed and quickly brushed all the dust off her face,

“Well you're not so clean yourself,” she pointed out and Hod wiped his mouth.

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“No, it's there.” Memo pointed.

Hod wiped his cheek.

“Other side...oh my god here.” she reached out and brushed his cheek with her paw and he shivered at her touch.

She gave him a puzzled expression before backing away.

“There you go.” she said, but her voice was softer, like she was thinking.

“So now what?” Hod asked, his heart still racing from her proximity.

“I guess we find somewhere to sleep and deal with the consequences of today's actions in the morning.” She said.

Hod felt his blood pressure raise, “Sleep?”

“Yeah” Memo said, “We do have to do that at some point or we will be useless to help anyone. Its safer if we stay close together too.”

Hod felt the heat as he blushed under his fur.

“Right...” He glanced up to the register counter, “There's a nice tissue box up there that was safe last night. Maybe we can use that.”

He blushed deeper imagining them nestled deep under the soft material, “I mean, I can keep watch if you'd prefer.”

Memo raised an eyebrow, “Okay Mr. Gentleman, lets go then.”

Hod swallowed hard and nodded, “After you, my lady.”

She groaned, “Ugh, no. Just climb the shelf.”

“Right, sorry.” Hod apologized but Memo took the lead anyway.

They climbed all the way up and found themselves exhausted at the top.

“Come on, lets just sleep.” Memo led Hod to the box and he was too tired to argue.

They climbed in and Memo glared at Hod in the dark under the tissues,

“Don't try any funny business.” She stated.

Hod felt embarrassment up to his neck, “I won't, geez!”

Memo curled up on one side and Hod moved to the other.

He was so tired but he couldn't sleep.

They weren't touching but he could feel the heat from her body and it left him restless and anxious.

It wasn't a big deal, they were just sleeping but he couldn't figure out why it made him so breathless and awake.

Memo was out like a light, her deep breathing did offer some solace for Hod, it was soothing to hear her next to him.

He closed his eyes and focused on the sound, before he knew it he had drifted off too; dreams flashing in unrecognizable frames behind his eyes like flipping through a TV station.

His sleep wasn't very restful but it was better than nothing.

He awoke in the morning very confused, something heavy and warm was on him.

He opened his eyes and nearly leapt out of his skin.

Memo was curled up next to him, her face nuzzled in his fur and her hand across his chest. She was sound asleep and Hod panicked.

She looked so peaceful but the way she as laying on him was going to make this awkward situation more embarrassing very quickly.

He was burning under her weight and for the hundredth time he was grateful he didn't visibly blush because he was certain he'd be red as a beet.

He slowly slid away, hoping she didn't wake up and kick his ass before he could explain.

She stirred and Hod held his breath as she rolled away and he was free.

He exhaled in relief and decided to crawl out of the box before she woke up so he could gather his thoughts and his composure.

Hod slipped out and was grateful it was still too early for the store to open.

He found peace in the silence. He breathed, relishing all the little sounds that the normal hustle and bustle drowned out; how passing cars sounded outside like the rush of ocean waves and the air conditioner hummed like a soothing song.

And in the silence he thought about Memo.

Of all the fanciful and magical things he could imagine, it was her above them all that captured his attention.

She was brave and honest, her fierceness unmatched.

Hod realized he liked her very much and hoped they lived long enough to get through this and maybe, just maybe, by then the thought of telling her his feelings wouldn't send his body into a fever and he could be brave enough to open up.

For now though, they had work to do.

“Hey,” Memo said sleepily and Hod turned to see her crawling out of the tissue box.

“Good morning.” He spoke, heat flushing his face again at the memory of her sleeping next to him.

She rubbed her eyes, “You snore.”

Maybe brutally honest was a better description of her.

Hod cringed, “Sorry about that.”

She shrugged, “Honestly it was kind of comforting. It reminded me of when I was little and my siblings and I piled together to stay warm. Needless to say there was a lot of snoring going on all night.”

Hod smiled, “Does your family live here in our pack?”

She nodded, “Most of them.” her eyes caught a sadness that made Hod look away, not wanting to cause pain he changed the subject.

“I have an idea for today.” He said after a minute of silence.

“I'm all ears” Memo wiggled them for emphasis.

“Before I passed out yesterday I thought Lord Smork showed up. It felt so real, but it got me thinking.” He paused before speaking, gathering his thoughts, “Everyone keeps sneaking up on us or we keep finding things out by accident. So what if it was on purpose? Like, instead of running or waiting for them to find us like some kind of criminals, we go to Lord Smork and just...I don't know, be bold?”

Memo crossed her arms, “You wanna storm the castle and be bold, huh?” her tone was teasing but her eyes lit up and a smile tugged at her mouth.

Hod took a deep breath, “Yeah, essentially but without aggression. I just want to talk and see if we can get some answers.”

“Okay,” Memo said, “I'm in, let's do it.”

Hod raised his hand for a high five, “Okay team storm the castle!”

Memo met his palm with a clap.

“Lets get some food first. I think Clark left some pretzels up here somewhere.” Memo said while sniffing the air.

The two rats munched, their mouths feeling dry after the salty snack but they were full and ready for action.

They made their way to the wall where the side entrance to their home was hidden behind a trash can and pushed open the door.

A small gasp escaped the mouth of the rat on watch duty.

“Hod!” She cried and Memo hushed her.

“Shh! Boy am I glad to see you Parcel!” Memo said and the other small rat raced to giver her a hug.

“This is one of my sisters, Parcel.” Memo said and Hod waved at her.

“I need you to keep quiet for us, okay?” Memo asked, “Hod and I are going to see Lord Smork and don't want to make a fuss.”

Parcel nodded happily, “You got it!” she glanced shyly at Hod, “We missed you.”

Hod smiled, “Well, I'm back now hopefully for a little while at least.”

“Go on now, back to your post.” Memo stated, all business.

Parcel nodded and raced back to her match box stairs, making her way to the top of a cereal box tower.

“You ready?” Memo asked Hod.

He took a breath and nodded.

“Yeah, let's do this.”

Memo took his hand, “For the good of the pack.”

and they marched on.